Light fixture



June '10, 1941. STEWART 2,244,736

LIGHT FIXTURE Fill-9d NOV. 27, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lama/all. 522w;

June 10, 1941.

L. L. STEWART LIGHT FIXTURE Filed Nov. 27, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 JQWZ1;. 5156mm: N

Patented June 10, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT o-Fric-E LIGHT FIXTURELemuel L. Stewart, Elkhart, Ind:, assignor to The Adlake Company, acorporationoflllinois Application November 27, 1937, .Serial'.No'..176,86t)

3 Claims.

The principal object of this invention. is to provide. a lightingfixture. for. tubular: bulb electric lamps. that will. prevent glare andpermit maximum. illumination. Generally speaking; this isaocomplished.by enclosing. a tubular: bulb lamp of clear glasswithin a closelysurroundingclosed cover having frosted'or enameled portions or bothfrosted and enameledxportions to control the: transmitted light raystolsuit the condition under which the fixture is tobe used.

Thus, ina bracket. or;wall fixture ateach sideof a mirror, for example,each cover may have that portion of its side next to the user heavilyfrosted toiprevent' glare and the remainder clear, or'li'ghtly' frosted(according to the distance from the wall andthe character of the Wall orassociated Wall plate) to give maximum indirect lighting without glarefrom, the Wall; or: each cover. mayhavea portion of its-walllnext to theuser enameled (with silica spray) and the remainder frosted or clear tosuit theconditionsfor indirect lighting. The. head of the cover:opposite tothe end of the lamp may be plain'and clean or it maybeprovided withoptical forms toconcentrate or disperse the light above-orbelow, as may be desired.

The inside wall of-the cover, rather than the outside wall, should haveany frostingused, for a-smooth outside wall shedsdust'better than afrosted one and is easier to clean. The joint between thecoverand thebase-shouldbe sealed. as by means of a gasket to keep out dust. Thisisespecially true when the cover is pendant.

Fig. 1 is a front elevation ofa mirror over abasinandprovided with sideor wall bracket fixtures embodying the invention;

Fig: 2'is'avertical section through one of the fixtures; a

Fig: 3" is a horizontal cross section taken on the plane indicated bythe line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one form of closed glass lamp cover;

Fig. 5 is aperspective view of the wall bracket;

Figs. Band 7 are front elevation and vertical section through a similarfixture having a lamp above andbelow the bracket and a variation in theform of cover for each lamp;

Fig. 8 is a plan View of Figs. 6 and 7;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a spring pawl or look for securing thecover in a selected position;

Fig. 10 is a plan view of a Wall bracket showing the location of thespring pawl within the cover socket.

These. illustrative embodiments are selected from theg-reat varietyofwhich the invention is susceptible and" they should notbetaken toindicate the scope of-the claims.

Referringxnow to Sheet: 1; the :fixture includes I a brass: wallibracket Hi having flange: extensions- I l provided: with. openings forscrews l2 to secure therbracket t'oawall- I3. The extensions are:preferably slightly: concave so that they will. serve: as reflectors,and their: front. surfaces are-suitably finished to give the desireddiffusion or'other light distributing characteristics.

The bracketi is eq ipped with a brass shell lamp socket"I-licommunicating. at" the bottomiwith a conduit: or duct I 53for=lead-in wires It:

Surrounding the lamp. socket: is a cover "socket l1,- threaded toreceive. and cooperate with a molded thread l8 on the end of a closed'lamp cover t3. When properly screwedxdown the joint is sealediby'a;rubber-gasket 20in a suitable depressionzat thesupperi'endioft thesocket. Pressed glass: covers: may. be readily made. to accuratedimensions.

The tubular bulb lamp 2| is preferably. made of clear glass for maximumeconomy'and eificiency. In -order. to. prevent glare that portion ofeach cover l9. adjacent to the. face of the user of the mirror 22' (Fig.l.) will.be treated in some manner suite to the purpose. In someinstances that will be'served by merely frosting the glass by acidetching, sand blast. or otherwise. Ih manyinstances, the remainder ofthe cover may be left" plain topermit a maximum transmission of light toproduceindirect lightingby refiection from-the-Wall andthe reflectorsconstituting a part of tlie'bracket. In other instances'it will beexpedient toenamel (as by the well known silica spray process)thoseportionsof the covers I9 lying between the filaments and the walland" the remainder; or a portion of the remainder of the cover. will befrosted;

Some designers will treat the side ofthe cover next to the wall when thedistance from the wall,.or its character; will result in glare, andunder other circumstances they: will omit the treatment. on thatsidetoincrease the indirect lighting by reflection from the Wall. Somedesigners will prefer to enamel the side next to the users eye. Ofcourse it will sometimes be expedient in the frosting operation to treatthe entire inside Wall of the cover.

The lower end of each cover is provided with a notch, or notches 23, inaddition to serrations 24, adapted to cooperate with the spring pawl 25soldered at 28 to the bracket in the bottom of the cover socket.

The position of the pawl is, of course, chosen to suit the conditions,for its position will determine the position of the frosted or enameledportion of the side wall of the cover when the pawl engages one or theother of the notches 23.

The features so far described may be used with the free end of the coveropen, but not to such good advantage as when it is closed to prevent theentrance of dust and sometimes also to provide optical forms forconcentrating or dispersing the light to meet the particular coinditions.

As shown in Fig. 4, the head 21 of the cover is provided with prismlenses suited to some conditions. In Figs. 2 and '7, the same cover isprovided with lens forms of different characteristics. In someinstances, a plain head will be satisfactory. The choice will dependsomewhat upon the direct or indirect lighting sought from the shaft ofrays through the head of the cover. As shown in Fig. 1, it is preferableto have a diverging shaft of light directed toward the ceiling foroverhead indirect lighting, and one means for accomplishing this resultis by prisms 2].

When the fixture is used on opposite sides of a mirror in a room havinga relatively low ceiling, it is desirable to throw considerable lightupwardly to be reflected from the ceiling down upon the head of a personstanding before the mirror. The clear or prism top of the coveraccomplishes this objective with admirable results. At the same time,front glare is avoided by using heavy frosting or enameling at the frontof the fixture to drive the light to the wall when it is effectivelydiffused by the wall surface and the refiectors H.

So far the cover has beeen decribed as it is contemplated when made ofglass and that term is used in the common sense, which is veryinclusive. I realize, however, that covers can be advantageously made ofa variety of molded plastics, such as Phenol-formaldehyde compounds,Urea-formaldehyde compound, Methyl-methacrylate resin, Celluloseacetate.

' Plastic covers may be ground with pumice and water or may be etchedwith acid.

In many instances it will be of advantage to use a plurality of tubularbulb lamps, and Figs. 6 and '7 illustrate one form in which that isdone,

one of the lamps being pointed directly upward and the other directlydownward. That, of course, can be varied to suit the particularconditions.

Tubular bulb electric lamps are well known and generally have acylindrical form of greater or less length. For convenience inidentification, however, reference is made to the General ElectrioCatalog of Standard Large Mazda Lamps and Type D Lamps, April 1, 1935.The shape of the tubular bulb lamp makes a generally cylindrical form ofcover satisfactory, but showing that form is not intended as alimitation.

Designers will readily make use of reed-ribbed cylinders, and otherwisedepart from a true cylindrical form in order to get decorative efiects,or particular light distribution. They will use forms polygonal in crosssection and pyramidal but, obviously, all those things will embody thespirit of this invention and for that reason are intended to be includedin the claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A light fixture for use alongside a wall mirror in a room having aceiling and wall of good light reflecting properties, said fixturecomprising a lamp socket, an elongated lamp supported in the socket, acorrespondingly elongated tubular cover having side and top walls fittedover the lamp, all the forward portion of the side wall which isnormally visible to a user of the mirror being treated to give it lightdiffusing properties, the rear of the side wall which is obscured by theforward portion from the View of the user being formed to pass light ofrelatively great density toward the room wall adjacent to the mirror forreflection outwardly, and the top wall of the cover being substantiallyfiat and provided with prismatic means for directing a diverging beam oflight upwardly onto the ceiling for reflection downwardly.

2. A light fixture for use alongside a mirror in a room having a ceilingof good light reflecting properties, said fixture comprising a lampsocket, an elongated lamp in the socket, a correspondingly elongatedtubular cover having side and top walls fitted over the lamp, a lightreflecting member behind the cover adjacent to the a mirror having aradius of curvature about a vertical axis greater than the curvature ofthe cover, all the forward portion of the side wall which is normallyvisible to a user of the mirror being treated to give it light diffusingproperties, the rear portion of the side wall which is obscured by saidforward portion from the view of the user being formed to pass light of,relatively great density toward the reflecting member for reflectionoutwardly, and the top wall of the cover being substantially flat andprovided with prismatic means for directing a diverging beam of lightupwardly onto the ceiling for reflection downwardly.

3. A light fixture for use alongside a wall mirror in a room having aceiling and wall of good light reflecting properties, said fixturecomprising a lamp socket, an elongated lamp supported in the socket, acorrespondingly elongated tubular cover having side and top walls fittedover the lamp all the forward portion of the side wall which is normallyvisible to a user of the mirror being treated to give it light diffusingproperties, the rear of the side wall which is ob soured by the forwardportion from the View of the user being formed to pass light ofrelatively great density toward the room wall adjacent to the mirror forreflection outwardly, and the top wall of the cover being provided withmeans for directing a diverging beam of light upwardly onto the ceilingfor reflection downwardly.

LEMUEL L. STEWART.

